The manufacturers of switching systems wishing to supply and sell their systems worldwide must arrange their systems so that they can be flexibly adapted to customer-specific special requirements. Such adaptations are, for example, necessary to adapt the switching systems optimally to the network hierarchies of different network operators and enable them to be parameterized for different specific tasks. Often it is also necessary to adapt the exchanges to different national network signaling systems. Above and beyond this, exchange operators often have different ideas and requirements with regard to the capability characteristics that they want to offer their subscribers.
For the reasons just mentioned, well known switching systems, for example the EWSD and SURPASS switching systems from Siemens AG, are structured so that they are easily adaptable to special features or to special requirements. These switching systems are specially arranged in their software for this purpose and contain at least a greater number of capability characteristics than the network providers wish to offer their customers.
Capability characteristics in this document are taken to mean network capability characteristics and subscriber capability characteristics.
Network capability characteristics are, for example, the dynamic thinning out of traffic for mass calls, such as for tele-dialog surveys, known as TED surveys for short. TED surveys make it possible for radio listeners or TV viewers to take part in opinion polls by telephone, which can then be immediately analyzed. With TED surveys, the caller reaches a special directory number via a uniform prefix number that corresponds to their desired option. To prevent network overloading during TED surveys, the calls are no longer submitted to the TED destination address after a pre-specified number of TED calls is reached.
Another example for a network capability characteristic is the blocking of specific destinations on network overload.
Subscriber capability characteristics are taken to mean functionalities that can be made available to telecommunications terminals from the switching systems side. These capability characteristics can be service-independent and offer additional functions which, for example, facilitate and simplify the operation of the terminal. Subscriber capability characteristics can also add to service features. For telephones transfer, automatic ring-back or call forwarding represent capability characteristics.
Naturally, it is not in the interest of the switching system manufacturers to enable the network providers to use all capability characteristics and combinations of capability characteristics unless they buy or obtain a license to use these capability characteristics.
Thus, it is desirable on the part of the switching system manufacturer either only to enable the capability characteristics available in the relevant switching system in accordance with a negotiated license scope or to enable all capability characteristics and to apply license fees in accordance with their actual usage.
With switching systems reseller characteristics can also be supported. This function allows a number of network operators to share a switching facility and enables them to supply their relevant subscribers individually with capability characteristics. Here too it is desirable that either type and scope of the usable capability characteristics can be restricted by the switching system operator in to his various network operators in accordance with the license scope negotiated or that the capability characteristics that are implemented in the switching system are enabled and license fees are charged in accordance with their actual use.